Frequently Asked Questions From Citizens
Q. What is a Shoreline Street End?
A. It is a street that ends at the water’s edge. In 2015 the Seattle City Council passed a resolution to use these streets that end at the shoreline to provide citizens visual and physical access to the water.
Q. Who has responsibility for managing Street Ends?
A. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) administers Shoreline Street Ends (SSEs).
Q: Do some people believe that a wetland is not present?
A: Yes. However, there are three Critical Area Reports, 2011, 2017 and 2024, that show a wetland is present at the East Harrison Shoreline Street End. The December 11, 2024 Critical Area Report is located here.
Q. Was the pruning work that was done at the East Harrison Shoreline Street End in August through October permitted?
A. An August 20th general maintenance work party for Friends of Hidden Beach (FOHB) was approved. All subsequent and non-minor maintenance was not approved or permitted. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), sent two inspectors to visit the East Harrison Shoreline Street End after the pruning and tree cutting. SDCI investigated the cutting and found clear violations of the code, including a lack of permits. Fines have been issued, and remedial permitting and mitigation is required.
Q. Are people allowed to use Street Ends to access their homes?
A. Yes, people are allowed to use street ends to access their homes safely, just like anybody else who enters their home from the street or an alley.
Q. What are supporters of Restore East Harrison Shoreline Street End asking SDOT to do?
A. SDOT needs to take action to prevent further destruction of the wetland, its buffer, and the ecological functions of the East Harrison Shoreline Street End, and restore the wetland. We are asking SDOT to fairly and diligently administer Federal, State, and City laws.
Despite three wetland delineations on file, there has been no plan in place to protect this sensitive ecology and no mitigation for the degradation that has occurred in recent years. If this situation occurred on private property, the City would require the private property owner to restore the wetland and mitigate for impacts to it. A private property owner would not be allowed to delineate a wetland, allow that wetland to be trampled out of recognition, and then state that the wetland does not exist.
Q. What evidence is there of a wetland at the East Harrison Shoreline Street End?
A. There are two wetland prior delineations that have been on file with the City for years, one in 2011 and another in 2017. The presence of a wetland was confirmed in 2024 by a third delineation that can be found in the Critical Areas Report. The wetland also is reflected in local, state, and national wetland mapping.
The wetland is adjacent to a navigable water, Lake Washington, meeting the definition of a jurisdictional wetland under the federal Clean Water Act. The City’s code, and state and federal law protect against such degradation of wetlands. As WDOE states on its website, wetlands are a “key player” in combating climate change, and the City’s Comprehensive Plan includes numerous policies that emphasize the need to protect wetlands and ecological functions.
Q. What is the goal of the Restore East Harrison Initiative?
A. Restore East Harrison Initiative wants to see the laws followed and the sensitive ecology protected and restored. Asking for laws to be followed and ecology to be protected is key to preserving this special place. Restore East Harrison Initiative fully supports legal, safe, and environmentally respectful, public use.
Q. Is this effort trying to change East Harrison Shoreline Street End?
A. No. A picture is worth a thousand words. Look at the photo of the Shoreline Street End from 2019 compared to how it looks today. The difference between the lush green grass and today’s denuded mosh pit is obvious. Many neighbors along 39th, along with other members of the community, want to restore the East Harrison Shoreline Street End to what it has always been: a “hidden beach” with public access, views, and protection for ecological functions including the wetland.
Many of us who love the East Harrison Shoreline Street End are deeply affected by its rapid deterioration. Just like business owners on 3rd Avenue asking the City to make their street drug-free and safer for all members of the public to enjoy, we want SDOT to restore and protect the East Harrison Shoreline Street End so that future generations of people and wildlife can enjoy it.
Q. Why does Restore East Harrison Initiative feel that the maintenance done at the East Harrison Shoreline Street End from August to October was “unpermitted?”
A. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI), sent two inspectors to visit East Harrison Shoreline Street End after the pruning and tree cutting. SDCI found clear violations of their regulations as well as those of the Urban Forestry department.
Q. Many people like running their dogs off-leash down at the Shoreline Street End, why is this so bad?
A. Seattle’s leash laws are in place to make it safe for people and leashed pets to use public space and be considerate of others. Not everyone feels comfortable with dogs running off-leash. And in this case, off-leash dogs dig and tear up the sensitive ecology. Restore East Harrison Initiative supports keeping dogs on-leash and respecting the laws and environment.
The explosion of off-leash dog running is not unique to East Harrison Shoreline Street End. The January 5th, 2025 Seattle Times Sunday front page article was entitled “Parks are going to the dogs, Seattle residents complain.” https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-residents-ask-when-did-this-become-a-dog-park/. The article highlights the dramatic increase of dogs running off-leash in Seattle Parks since COVID. More than two-thirds of the 1,251 readers who responded to a survey said off-leash dogs upset them. Almost 40% were very upset, which was ten out of a ten scale. Fortunately, as the article outlines, Seattle is planning to add five new off-leash dog parks to add to the fourteen that already exist.
Q. East Harrison Shoreline Street End is a very popular place, why should efforts be taken to restore it?
A. A popular place does not have to mean accepting careless, illegal and ecologically damaging activities. We believe we can ensure that East Harrison Shoreline Street End remains a place that people enjoy, while also respecting it as an environmentally sensitive, protected, public space.
Q. Does this group support Friends of Street Ends (FOSE)?
A. Yes, this group supports FOSE, and many people who support this cause have actively participated in their meetings. If you go to the FOSE website, you’ll see that most of their projects support the restoration of native ecology. It appears that the treatment of East Harrison Shoreline Street End is an exception rather than the rule. The group connected with the recent pruning and tree cutting states on their website that they are not affiliated with FOSE.
Q. Does FOSE oppose the restoration of East Harrison Shoreline Street End?
A: Not that we have heard.
Q. Are the issues facing East Harrison Shoreline Street End completely unique?
A. Yes and No. East Harrison is the only Shoreline Street End that we know of that has three Critical Area Reports and Environmental Critical Area designations. However, many people living next to Shoreline Street Ends feel that SDOT does not consider their concerns about safety and illegal use of these spaces. These homeowners and neighbors find it extremely difficult to get SDOT to post signage and enforce regulations such as the “No pets off leash and remove solid pet waste,” Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 9.25.084, SMC 9.25.082, and “dusk to dawn closures,” SMC Ordinance 121389.
